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The God Who Hears and Answers

Sunday, July 31, 2022
Pastor Jojo Ma

 

7 And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. 8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” 9 And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. 10 Now therefore let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.” 11 But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people, whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and relent from this disaster against Your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’” 14 And the Lord relented from the disaster that He had spoken of bringing on His people.

One of the big lessons for us today is the importance of prayer. God loves to hear us pray. God loves to hear us pray for others. And God loves to use prayer to effect change and bring about His sovereign plan in the world.

7 And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. 8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’”

When God doesn’t give us what we want, we make our own gods to get life on our own terms. We turn away from Him and His Word and worship the false gods.

The irony in all this is that while we think they are serving us, we actually become enslaved to them. How so? They end up ruling --- and ruining --- our lives.

9 And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people.”

We want Him to change others but not change us. We can be stiff-necked too --- stubborn, resistant to His will. We shouldn’t be okay with this attitude.

10 Now therefore let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.

So even in God’s just wrath and anger at Israel’s spiritual idolatry and adultery, the Husband of Israel, God Himself, He hints of grace and mercy.

11 But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people, whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and relent from this disaster against Your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’”

Jn 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Moses believed in the power of prayer.

Phil 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

This brings a smile to God’s face. This is what the Lord delights to hear: His children trusting in the character and the promises of God.

14 And the Lord relented from the disaster that He had spoken of bringing on His people.